Mantua

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Overview

Sharing more in common with Ferrara in Romagna than its Lombard cohorts, Mantua (Mantova) is a city protected by lakes, anchored by Unesco-listed Renaissance architecture and coloured by a history that resounds to the daring, sometimes despotic deeds of one family: the House of Gonzaga. Reigning for 400 years from the early 14th to 18th centuries, the Gonzaga made Mantua a centre of the Renaissance, commissioned several massive palaces, and cemented power by intermarrying with the powerful d’Este clan of Ferrara. Much of the city today was built in their image.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Palazzo Ducale

Mantua

For more than 300 years the enormous Palazzo Ducale was the seat of the Gonzaga – a family of wealthy horse breeders who rose to power in the 14th century…

Palazzo Te

Mantua

Palazzo Te was where Frederico II Gonzaga escaped for love trysts with his mistress Isabella Boschetti, and it's decorated in playboy style with stunning…

Basilica di Sant'Andrea

Mantua

Easily usurping Mantua's cathedral, this towering basilica safeguards the golden vessels said to hold earth soaked by the blood of Christ. Longinus, the…

Rotonda di San Lorenzo

Mantua

The weather-worn, 11th-century, Lombard Romanesque Rotonda di San Lorenzo is sunk below the level of the square, its red-brick walls still decorated with…

Piazza Sordello

Mantua

Piazza Sordello is the oldest square in Mantua, and was probably the location of the Etruscan town. The existing layout is thanks to the Gonzagas, whose…

Piazza Broletto

Mantua

One of half a dozen squares that embellish Mantua's historic centre, the Broletto is home to the Palazzo del Podestà, once home to the city's highest…

Teatro Bibiena

Mantua

If ever a theatre were set to upstage the actors, it's the 18th-century Teatro Bibiena. Dimly lit and festooned with plush velvet, its highly unusual,…

Piazza delle Erbe

Mantua

Once the location of the town's vegetable market, Piazza delle Erbe is Mantua's most lively piazza. Its 13th-century Palazzo della Ragione sports a 15th…

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